American Physical society is going to honour Abhay Ashtekar with the prestigious Einstein Prize on October 23 for his commendable work. Read full story here.

Owing to his commendable work, Indian American Professor Abhay Ashtekar is going to be honoured with the prestigious Einstein Prize along with $10,000 as an award on October 23, 2018 by American Physical society, APS. After four decades of outstanding accomplishment in his scientific engagement with gravitational science Abhay Ashtekar is all set to receive the Einstein Prize.

Talking about his achievement, Abhay Ashtekar told IANS, “The prize is special because it is the highest honour bestowed by APS in the broad area of gravitational science. The first Einstein prize was awarded jointly to Peter Bergmann and John Wheeler, who introduced general relativity to American universities by creating research groups. Perhaps because the first award often sets the tone, subsequent prizes have come to recognise ‘lifetime achievements. So the news was deeply satisfying.”

Ashtekar studied high school in India, when his passion for physics began. He said,“At first I knew only Marathi literature –that is my mother tongue, and was the medium of instruction until I was 11. Then was exposed Hindi and English literature and realised how deeply literature is tied to specific cultures. What is considered great in one language or context could well be mediocre in another. At the same time, I learned Newton’s laws and universality of gravity — what makes the apple fall on earth also makes the planets go around the sun. This was stunning by itself,”

What he found most remarkable was that, unlike art and literature, which are “so tied to human conditions”, Newton’s laws transcend both.“It was striking to me that the same Newton’s laws are taught and admired in India as in China, Japan and the West.”

“Later, in college, fundamental physics seemed to me to be the deepest and purest way to pursue understanding of Nature (the external world). In graduate school, I chose to work in general relativity, cosmology and quantum physics because that is where the most fundamental questions about space, time and the nature of the physical universe are discussed,”

When Ashtekar was asked whether physicists in India are producing world-class research, he said, “There are extremely talented physicists in India who are making first-rate contributions to pure physics in areas I have first-hand acquaintance with. I am particularly pleased by the ‘LIGO-India’ project that is now placing India firmly in the front ranks of international efforts."

"The Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pune in particular will play an important role in the major discoveries that will be made with the international network of gravitational wave observatories between 5 and 10 years from now. In this area India is ahead of China, for example.My colleagues in other areas of physics, on the other hand, tell me that this is not the case in their field; that there is a lot of good research but not enough ‘great’ research that gets published in the most visible journals.”

American professor of Indian origin, Abhay Ashtekar to be honoured with the illustrious Einstein PrizeDescription:American Physical society is going to honour Abhay Ashtekar with the prestigious Einstein Prize on October 23 for his commendable work. Read full story here.Times Now